How much are TikTok ads in 2024

So how much does it cost to advertise on TikTok, well put simply, it can vary a lot depending on how good your ads are, how much engagement they get and the audience your ads are aimed at. 

When it comes to costs, TikTok uses the term CPM, this stands for the cost per 1,000 views of your content. As of 2023 the average TikTok CPM is around $9. 

This doesn’t mean your ads will cost $9 per 1,000 views, it’s just an overall average. You may find that they can be as low as $0.50 or much higher than $9. 

The best way to work out the TikTok ad cost for your business is start trying some out and see. You can easily open a TikTok for Business account in a matter of minutes and start testing out with appropriate budgets that your business can afford. 

Visit the TikTok for Business site to create your account and launch an advert in a matter of minutes. 

How to launch a TikTok ad

The below steps are the basics of how to run a TikTok advert:

1. Head to the TikTok for Business website
2. Sign up
3. Select the objective of your ads
4. Set a budget, targeting and bidding method
5. Upload the content i.e your video/photos and add your ad copy and a CTA (Call To Action)
6. Review your campaign
7. Submit it

That’s the basics of it, however like with most ad platforms and advertising in general it’s all about testing different ad formats, content, messaging, targeting, bidding methods, budgets and so forth to optimize your ads for reach, engagement and cost. 

How much does it cost to advertise on TikTok

How much are TikTok ads is one of those questions with no one answer, the cost will vary on a multitude of factors however we’ll give you an idea of average CPM rates as well as various examples below so you’ll be able to get an idea. 

The best way to see how much TikTok ads will cost you is simply to test it out yourself, see how you content performs and the CPM rates you’ll get. 

It’s no surprise that asking how much does it cost to advertise on TikTok is one of the most common questions in relation to TikTok advertising. We’d love to be able to tell you it will cost you exactly but no one can tell you this. 

It’s important to understand that there are no pre-set TikTok ad costs or prices, the cost will depend on factors such as your ad performance, the industry you’re in, the click through rate. 

What is a good TikTok CPM?

A good TikTok CPM is one that is as low as possible to make your ads as profitable as possible, however in terms of figures the average TikTok CPM in 2023 was around the $9 mark, so anything under this could be seen as a good CRM for TikTok in 2024.

As with any platform, as more advertisers enter the platform in general the costs will rise, so as early adopters you can take advantage of the costs in comparison to more established platforms such as Facebook ads. 

TikTok ads

As with videos on this platform, TikTok ads should be created with engagement as a core aim. Videos whether ads or simply user uploads will perform based on the TikTok algorithm that looks at the engagement the video gets.

This includes looking at how long people view it, if people watch the whole video, if people react and engage with it such as liking, commenting, saving or sharing the video. The more that this happens the more the video will be pushed out to more people and hence if you can optimize your ads for this too then you will reach more people and hence the CPM cost of your ads should reduce.

There are multiple different ad formats that you can use on TikTok for Business and which you should choose depends on your advertising budget, the types of content you have available and the goals of your ads. 

Video Ads

These are the most common and can be broken down into the following types, In feed, Top View, Branded Effects and Brand Takeover ads. Which you should go for will depend on what your goals and budget are.

In Feed Ads

These are shown within the users TikTok feed of videos, so as they scroll on their feed or ‘For You’ page they’ll be shown videos from other users as well as ads.  These tend to be the most popular methods for advertisers.

You need to ensure (as with all ads) that your content is captivating especially during the first few seconds otherwise the chances of a user simply swiping down to the next video are high.

These types of TikTok video ads are great as they can allow for users to engage via commenting, saving, liking and sharing which can give your ads that boost at no extra cost to you.

You can also ad a ‘Call To Action (CTA)’ to these ads whether this directs them to your website, a product, your social page or something else. 

Top View Ads

These ads appear at the top when a user opens the TikTok app, this means they’ll be right their in front of them and so can effective as they may be less likely to swipe away. 

Many companies opt to use these when they want to advertise something that requires a longer duration i.e 30-60 seconds. 

Branded effects Ads

A less common but still effective method of advertising on TikTok is to create a ‘Branded Effect’ which can last up to 10 days. This requires your business to get creative in creating something that users will actively want to use within their videos. 

If they do, then essentially they will help push your business with the effects on their videos. These are often stickers which they can put within videos or more commonly filters which then can be used when creating their own videos. 

If you create a filter which goes viral this can lead to millions of views of your brand at a low cost.  

Brand Takeover Ads

These types of ads takeover the users full screen, typically for a few second after this they then go into the feed. Each day TikTok only ever push one of these ads to users which tends to make these quite an expensive way to run ads although they can be quite effective if done correctly. 

These are certainly better at those with more experience running ads on the TikTok platform than those new to it. 

Branded hashtag ads

This allows you to create a hashtag which has your brand in it, this is then promoted to users in the hope that they will create content with it or use it in their content they are about to upload. 

This creates awareness for your company and if done right can go viral and create mass exposure to your brand in a cost effective way. 

Carousel Ads

If video is not your businesses strong point then you could consider carousel ads, these allow you to upload up to 10 photos which appear in users feeds in a carousel. Allowing them to swipe through them. 

If done effectively this can be an effective way to advertise on TikTok however note you may want to consider making the first few images captivating and highly engaging. 

Spark Ads

These are a newer type of advertising that you can do within TikTok. These types of ads allow you to make an advert from an existing video which has already shown to have great engagement. 

This is certainly an exciting way to use TikTok advertising for your business and worth exploring. 

What is a good cpm for TikTok ads?

If you’re asking the question of how much does it cost to advertise on TikTok in 2024 then firstly congratulations, it’s great that you’re considering TikTok as a platform to advertise your business, it’s no secret how fast the social network has grown and the chances are your audience are spending hours on it so starting running TikToks ads is a great way to get in front of them.

This guide will help give you an idea of how much TikTok ads will cost you, but a caveat is that it’s important to understand that as with other advertising platforms like Facebook and Google Ads no one (including ourselves) can tell you exactly how much it will cost as ad costs vary depending on numerous factors which we’ll talk about below.

What type of TikTok ads perform best?

Now there’s no exact answer to this however it is generally the most creative and relatable content often with more of a user generated (less professional) feel can often outperform ads that have been created in a studio. This is because they resonate better with the audience who are used to seeing this user generated content on the app, filmed on mobile phones rather than finely polished content filmed on thousand dollar video equipment.

Of course the above is a generalization but it's worth keeping the above in mind when it comes to running and testing different TikTok ads.

A great first step is to look at what is trending and see if you can jump on the trend and create ads that relate to this type of content. Another great way is to repurpose user generated content that your business may have (it’s always best to ask for permission first) and use these as the basis of your ads.

When users see real people using or talking about your business's product or service it’s easy for them to relate to this rather than someone from your business talking about them.

Here are a few key things to keep in mind when creating TikTok ads:

• Don’t hard sell - If you make ads which are just trying to sell your product or service then they may not perform well as users will quickly skip/swipe past them.
• Try out user generated style content - Whether this is repurposed from your actual customers or you create some in that style
• Make sure the content you product is not boring - Remember people are on the platform to view fun and interesting content, if you ads don’t fit this they’ll skip them
• Make the music count - Adding music to your ads can evoke emotions and feelings as well as giving your content a boost if it’s on a trending sound
• Don’t make them too long - In general you don’t want your ads to be more than 15 seconds long unless your ads are incredibly captivating

If you’re feeling ready to try it out, then head over to the TikTok for business page to sign up and start making your first ads.

Why should your business use TikTok ads?

TikTok has grown since its launch in 2016 to having over a billion active monthly users across the world, the app itself has been downloaded over 4 billion times therefore getting your business in front of this audience has huge potential.

The app is hugely popular across the world and is currently available in over 150 different countries and in over 75 languages meaning even the chances of your business demographic and audience being active on TikTok is high.

This makes this platform fantastic for businesses as an avenue for advertising on and hence why thousands of businesses spend millions every month on ads through the TikTok advertising platform to get their brands more exposure, to increase following, audience and to drive sales and revenue. 

Are TikTok ads worth it

It depends, I know that may not be the answer you’re looking for but it’s the answer for any advertising platform. The answer can be yes if you can make your ads cost effective in that they either bring in more profit than they cost to run or that they are building you up value in your business such as in brand awareness and exposure, following and so forth. 

TikTok ads may not be worth it if you can’t make them cost effective or if they end up costing too much money to build the value that you’re aiming for from them.

Best Types of Business For TikTok Ads

Most businesses can find a way to advertise on TikTok effectively, it’s just a case of working out the type of content that your audience will be consuming and developing your own to get in front of them.

For those thinking TikTok audiences aren’t right for them, you’d be surprised about the number of different businesses that do incredibly well on TikTok. For example you may expect a cosmetics brand to do well but there are people who run accounts which follow their pool cleaning business which have millions of followers and tens of millions of views every month.

It’s always worth testing out the platform, as you won’t know until you’ve tried it out.

How to optimize your TikTok Ads

Once you’ve set up your ads, it’s vital not to just sit back and do nothing. You need to be optimizing them and looking at your analytics to make sure you are getting the best performance from them.

Ultimately if you fine tune and keep testing your ads then you can more often than not reduce your CPM, increase your engagement and Click Through Rates (CTR) and so this avenue for running your ads will be more beneficial for your business.

Luckily, TikTok has an Ads manager that lets you do all of this from within the app, so you can easily track how your ads are performing, how much you are spending and more. 

You’ll see various figures within this dashboard including the following:

• Click Through Rate (CRM) - This is worked out as the number of clicks divided by your total impressions. The average TikTok CTR is around 1%, so anything above this is great, if you’re below this then keep playing around with the ads.
• Cost Per Click (CPC) - A little more self explanatory but this shows you how much it has cost you per click based on the total cost and number of clicks, again the average TikTok CPC is around $1. 
• Conversion Rate - This is worked out by the number of conversions divided by your total visitors. Again the average TikTok conversion rate is around 3.5%. 

‍TikTok ads cost summary

How much TikTok ads cost will vary from business to business as well from ad to ad depending on how well that piece of content/video/ad performs.

The only true way to find the cost will be to trial it out yourself, so you can see how your businesses' ads perform to your audience. Although the average CPM for TikTok is around $9 this doesn’t mean this will be the cost for you but it is a good figure to base calculations on.

If you feel ready to start your TikTok ads journey, then head across to the TikTok for Business website and start creating your ads and see how your audience react to them.